"Oh, why don't they design couches for pregnant women?" Kathryn groaned, shifting her position for the umpteenth time that evening. "Something with a lot more padding."

"I guess Starfleet didn't bargain on the captain of a starship being pregnant in deep space," Chakotay suggested from the other end of the couch.

"No matter how many pillows I have, I just can't get comfy," Kathryn grumbled, reaching over with difficulty and tugging at the cushion behind her husband's back.

"Oh, no you don't," he said, sitting more firmly against the pillow. "You've got a million pillows there. You don't need mine as well."

"But my back hurts," Kathryn protested.

"Do you really need that many pillows?"

"Yes!"

He sighed, and handed her 'his' cushion. She snatched it up and began to re-arrange her nest of pillows. Chakotay watched her in amusement as he reached for the teapot on the coffee table in front of them.

"Want some more tea?"

"No thanks. I have to go pee."

"But you just went to pee."

"And I have to go again."

Chakotay sighed, poured his tea and put the pot back on the table. "Only two more months," he murmured.

"That's easy for you to say," Kathryn retorted, trying to heave herself out of the pillows. "You're not the one carrying this child."

"I know it's hard, love, but you just have to hang in there."

"It's more than hard. It's agony."

"I'm sure it can't be that bad," Chakotay said, hiding his smile behind his cup.

"Oh, believe me, it is that bad." Kathryn paused on the edge of the couch and mock-glared at him. "You know, I wish that just for once, you could carry this child and know what it's like."

A chuckle began to escape his lips, but as soon as she had finished speaking, he was almost blinded by a white flash and a strange sensation in his middle…

Kathryn's shout of laughter barely registered as he looked down and saw, to his horror, that he appeared to be seven months pregnant. Sure he was imagining things, he turned to ask Kathryn what she saw, but the words never made it out of his mouth.

Kathryn was lounging serenely against the pillows, her hands running happily over her flat stomach.

She started to laugh again at Chakotay's shock. He sat there doing an inadvertent goldfish impression while moving his gaze between his abdomen and hers, trying to make sense of what he was seeing. Trying not to giggle, she looked down at her socked feet. "You know it's been while since I could see my feet like this," she said with an attempt at nonchalance.

"Kathryn," Chakotay sounded almost strangled in his effort to keep his voice level, "what just happened?"

"Your wish is my command, of course," an all-too-familiar voice boomed around them. A wisp of smoke began to curl up from the spout of the teapot, and it solidified into a humanoid form. The form of…

"Q!" Kathryn and Chakotay shouted simultaneously. Chakotay just glared at the omnipotent pest, while Kathryn looked curiously at his garments.

Q noticed her look. "I am a genie, of course," he said pompously. "I granted your wish. And since you don't have an oil lamp, the teapot had to suffice."

"Q," Chakotay's voice was so low it sounded like a growl, "just what have you done?"

"Why, I granted Kathy's wish," he said. With a flash, he appeared in the armchair facing them, lounging sideways in it as if he owned the place. "She wished you could know what she was suffering, so now you can."

"And how long is this 'experiment' going to last?"

"It's not an 'experiment', Chuckles, more… an 'experience'. As for how long it will last… well, it would be fun to see you do the giving birth part as well." Then he noticed the two death glares levelled his way and amended, "But it'll last only for tonight. By tomorrow, you'll be your old charming self again. Everything as it was." Q turned around in the chair and leaned forward, his neck extending until his head reached all the way across the coffee table to in front of Kathryn. "Mind you, Kathy, if you had mated with me instead of this irritating mortal, you wouldn't have had any of these problems." Kathryn just glared at him, and he sighed. "But it's your choice, so enjoy this while you can!" And with a dramatic snap of his fingers, he was gone.

Chakotay starting muttering under his breath – cursing Q, Kathryn was sure. He began shifting on the couch, adjusting his position multiple times and muttering all the while. She found herself feeling slightly sorry for him.

"Want a pillow?" she asked, holding one out for him. Chakotay aimed an impressive facsimile of her own iconic death glare in her direction.

"I have to go pee."